I've got an old 12 volt (unknown mfg) windlass on my boat
but I need to rewire it as it was previously wired with
14ga romex (house wire).  Yes I said romex...

I removed the plastic cover and found the feeder wire going
into the motor was 10ga so I assume that 10ga in the minimum
wire size for this windlass.

The problem is, without a estimate on amperage draw I can't
calculate for the proper wire size for the 20 foot run
to the battery bank.

10ga can handle 34 amps at 8ft or 45 amps at 6ft.  That's
fine if the battery is that close to the windlass but my run
will be right at 20 ft.

With 6ga I could draw up to 34 amps at 20ft or with 4ga I
could draw up to 54 amps at 20ft.

Any ideas on proper wire size?

Thanks...

Jason
Waco, Texas

Jason, buy the largest gage wire you can, or buy a dedicated windlass
battery and install it next to the windlass.

Bob Peterson
47' Lien Hwa CMY
"Lopaka Nane"
San Francisco

-----Original Message-----
From: trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:trawlers-and-trawlering-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of
Jason
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2005 9:19 AM
To: trawlers-and-trawlering@lists.samurai.com
Subject: T&T: windlass wiring...

I've got an old 12 volt (unknown mfg) windlass on my boat but I need to
rewire it as it was previously wired with 14ga romex (house wire).  Yes I
said romex...

I removed the plastic cover and found the feeder wire going into the motor
was 10ga so I assume that 10ga in the minimum wire size for this windlass.

The problem is, without a estimate on amperage draw I can't calculate for
the proper wire size for the 20 foot run to the battery bank.

10ga can handle 34 amps at 8ft or 45 amps at 6ft.  That's fine if the
battery is that close to the windlass but my run will be right at 20 ft.

With 6ga I could draw up to 34 amps at 20ft or with 4ga I could draw up to
54 amps at 20ft.

Any ideas on proper wire size?

Thanks...

Jason
Waco, Texas

For what it's worth, the 12 volt anchor winch on our ex fish boat draws
enough under severe loads, such as trying to lift the anchor when snagged,
to trip the 60 amp breaker. I have it fed with # 4 cable and its about 15
feet from the batteries to the winch.  It is powered by a surplus (probably
WWII) aircraft flap or landing gear motor which was made for 24 volts but
runs great on 12 volts at just about optimum speed. This is a very common
piece of equipment here in the PNW on commercial fish boats and has been for
years.

John Tones  MV Penta (conversion)
Sidney, BC

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